Direction-indicator.



w. M. MATTHEWS;

DIBEGHONJNDICATOR.

APPLICATMM FILED OCT. 2. I915.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919 2 SHEETSSHEET I.

W. M. MATTHEWS.

omenom INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 2, 1915.

aw-Unease;

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

' WILLARDM. MATTH WS, or NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

DIRECTION-INDICATOR.

Application filed October 2,1915. Serial No. 53,816.

Be it known that- I, \VlLLann M. MAT- 'runws, a citizen of the. United States, residing at New, Bedford, in the county of 'ln'istol and State of l\'lassachusetts,have invvented certain new and useful Improvements in Direction-Tmllcators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

- clear, andcxa'ct description of the invention,

such as will enable othcrsskilled-in the art to which it appertains to make and use the This invention relates-to new and useful -improvements in direction indicators, and

the principal object of the device is to provide a means foretticiently lndlcatmg to pcdestrians and vehicles the direction in which the vehicle on which the device is used, will travel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and efiicientmcansoperable from. the seat of the driver of the vehicle to indicate at both ends of the vehicle the direction to be taken.

A furtherobject of the invention is to 1provide an electrically operated means f whioh isparticularly simple in construction and cheap to manufacture, thus placing the ;;dev1ce within reach-of all persons to whom such a device would ,be useful.

Still another. object of the invention is to provide a device wherein the signals are independently operable, thereby enabling the driver to selectively indicate at both ends ofthe vehicle the;direction to be taken.

A further and equally important object of the invention is .to provide a device which will seryeto save life and, property from damage through misunderstanding of sig nals; i

. Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement ofparts "which will be fully set, forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a face view in elevation of one of the signal boxes, illustrating the stop signal being given, v

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on line 2-2-of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is adetail view of one of the indieating arrows,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the opposite indicating arrow,

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

the

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 designates as anentirety the casing ofthe device comprising a bottom 2 formed with the front ,wall 3 and the endwalls 4. The rear wall designated 5 .may be hinged or rigidly secured to the device in'any suitable manner,,and the front wall 3 is formed with .thesight opening 6, in which a suitable glass panel may be securedv if desired. It is to be understood thatthe glass panel above referred to, need not necessarily be of glass, but may be formed of any other suitable transparent material, through which the signals may be readily seen. Secured to the wall 3 at a point directly above the opening 6 is the supportarm or flange 7 the rear end of which has secured, or formed integral therewith. the back panel 8, form -ing the rear of the sight chamber, indicated by the numeral 9. A suitable stop 10 is secured to the inner face of the rear of the bottom 2 .and forms a rest against which the signaling plates bear when in their inoperative position.

Secured withm the casing or housing l in I the rear of the plates or back 8 and at spaced intervals within said housing are the electro magnets 11 provided with the usual mag nectic cores which are adapted to attract the armatures of the various signals as will be more fully, hereinafter described.

Mounted between the end walls 1 at a point slightly above and forward of the magnets 11 is a rod 12 on which the frames carrying the indicating plates are pivoted. These frames comprise the U-shaped members 13, the ends of the arms of which are formed withsuitable loops or bearings 14,

which are pivotally mounted on the rod 12 and one of said arms extended, as at 15, and carries a soft iron armature 16, which is adapted to be attracted by the coreof the magnets 11 when any one of said magnets is energized. It is to be understood that there is provided a frame 13 and an armature 16 for each signal plate and the signal plates designated by the character 17 are secured to the bight portions of the U- shaped frames in such a way as to be helddirectly in line with the sight opening when the frame is in its raised position.

The indicating plate, designated by the character A, is formed with a black outer surface and is provided with a cut-out portion 18, behind which is supported a suitable panel 19 of white translucent material.

The cut-out portion 18 may be in the shape of a hand, arrow or any other suitable direction indicating means, which points in one direction, so as to indicate that the vehicle will take the direction in which the hand points upon the energization of the n'iagnets for actuating the plate A. The plate designated by the character. B, like the plate A, is provided with an opening 20 behind which a suitable glass panel 21 is 5 secured, and this opening 20 is arranged so that it points in a direction opposite to the direction of the opening 18. The plate, designated by the character C, is provided with a plurality of perforations or cut-out por- 20 tions 22 behind which suitable glass panels of translucent white glass 23 are secured, and these perforations are preferably in /the form of letters to indicate the word Back, thereby indicating whenin its 'operative position that the vehicle will travel in a reverse direction. Like the panel C, the panel D is provided with the perforations or cut-out portions 24' provided with the translucent glass panels 25 at theirrear sides, which cut-out portions or'perforations are in the ,form of letters forming the word Stop, thereby indicating the intention of the driver to bring the vehicle to a standstill. From the foregoing itwill be seen that upon moving any one of the indicating panels A, B, b or D, into alinement with the sight opening, the various indications or signals, as to the intention of the driver, may be given, thus warning persons apa0 preaching the vehicle fromthe front or rear,

and avoiding many accidents.

Referring to the Wiring diagram illustrated in Fig. 7, the character 26 designatesthe power source from which leads the wire -15 27, and leading from the opposite terminals of the power source is the wire 28. This wrre 27 leads to one terminal of the magnet Fm one of the housingsor casings l, and thus acts as a feeder for said magnets, while the wire .28 leads to one terminal of the magnet 11 in the housing 1 at the opposite end of the vehicle. The magnet for operating the signal plate, designated by the 'character A, is designated by the character 55. a, and leading therefrom is the wire'29, one

' terminal of which is connected to one pole of the switch a. .The opposite terminal of this switch is connected bv means of the wire 30 to the terminal of the magnet A at the opposite end of the vehicle opposite the terminal which is connected to the wire 28. It will thus be seen that as the switch A is thrown to close a circuit through the magnet, the various magnets at the forward and rear end of the vehicle, will be energized, thereby-moving the indicating plate A into indicatin position. It will likewise be noted tli t the current flowing from the battery upo the closing of the switch B, will pass thro lgh the wire 27 into the magnet 12 and then through the wire 31 to one of the poles of the switch B and thence from the opposite pole through the wire 32 into the magnet c at the opposite end of the vehicle, and thence back through the wire 28 to the battery. The closing of the remaining switches C and D selectively will respectively. energize their magnets 0 and (Z, so as to operate the signals and indicate to the person approaching the vehicle from either direction the intention of the driver.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodinient of this invention, it is to be understoodthat such changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as.

will fall withinthe spirit and scope of the appended claim;

lVhat is claimed is A direction indicator comprising a housing having a sightopeni'ng, a pivot bar located within the housing. a plurality of U- shaped frames, certain of said frames having a rel-atiwely short arm and a relatively long straight arm, and the other of said frames having each a relatively short arm and a relatively long angular arm, said short arms having bar receiving bearings at their free ends and the relatively straight'long arms having, bar receiving bearings spaced from theirrea-r ends in alinement with'tho first bearings and the relatively long angular arms, each having a pair of bar receiving bearings alining with said other bearings,

w an armature carried by each long arm, elec- 

